This morning we awake early to find sunshine illuminating the treetops along main channel of the Ucayali River. Venturing out in the skiffs, we cross to the other side of the flooding river. The volume of water flowing through the Amazon Basin this time of year is hard to comprehend, being ten times greater than the Mississippi River and accounting for more than 15% of all the freshwater discharging into the world’s oceans. Egrets and terns hitch rides downstream, perched on floating logs and branches. We find the forest alive with activity. We are treated to several good views of blue and yellow macaws perched in dead palm trees, their favorite nesting habitat.
On a calm morning such as this, any motion in the trees can mean only one thing—monkeys. We stop to investigate and find both squirrel monkeys and saddleback tamarin leaping between branches. But the highlight of the morning is a great view of a family of secretive and rare night or owl monkeys sleeping in a hollow tree. As we nose the skiff under some overhanging branches and look straight up to see four pairs of eyes looking down on us. True to their name, these nocturnal monkeys have large owl-like eyes for hunting at night. As we watch them they are having trouble staying awake, and in fall back asleep by the time we pull away.
This afternoon, pink and gray river dolphins escort the Delfin II as it noses into the mouth of the Río Dorado. For more than an hour the dolphins swim close to the ship, sometimes rising to the surface in pairs. Having evolved to be totally adapted to freshwater, these are some of the rarest marine mammals in the world, and among the most challenging to photograph.
Our late afternoon skiff ride yields more interesting sightings, including three-toed sloths hanging around in the treetops eating leaves and a colorful caiman lizard resting on a branch at eye level. We also enjoy good views of hoatzin birds, with their punked-out head feathers and also horned screamers, a large goose-like bird with a modified feather rising out of the top of its head.
But the real highlight doesn’t come until sunset, when an unusual pink and purple light paints distant thunderheads reflecting in the mirror lake, a photographer’s dream. As we head back to the ship, darkness comes quickly. Using spotlights, the guides look for nocturnal animals along the river. Several caimans are spotted, as well as nighthawks and nightjars. Back at the ship we sip pisco sours and enjoy another delicious Peruvian dinner.
